That’s added as well. Just shows it’s too many games. If you don’t feel it’s a must win and you sit out it’s time to reduce the games. Of course that dips into owners pockets so it won’t happen. NBA is terrible. It’s not basketball.
Exact opposite. You don't reduce the games or keep adding in extra teams to the playoffs to appease players and lazy fans. You change the criteria for making the playoffs and make it harder, but incentivize it. Players will rise-up to the bar of it is set high. If it is set low, the product suffers, and being lazy is human nature so why wouldn't players want to play less and earn as much, or more. That is human nature for most. Like previous poster indicated, additionally schedule things better, even if it means the season is 1-2 weeks longer. Nobody is going to care because that wouldn't overlap with anything it already isn't overlapping with.
Maybe instead of their dumb idea to have a "play in" tourney for the last two seeds, they should get rid of the last two seeds that make the playoffs and incentivize players in their contracts to make the playoffs. Problem is that means changing the way contracts are structured and the players aren't going to go for that. They are almost all on guarantied contracts and already are mostly all overpaid. I'm not knocking players getting what they can get but it is obvious that players are overpaid when teams are trading 6,7, and even 8 players/picks in trades just to unload "dead weight" in cap space...why, because they exorbitantly overpaid players and can't do anything about it afterwards.
Right now the 450th best player in the league is cracking the million/yr mark. They average 3 pts/gm and 2 rbs/gm. Player 250 earns 4.3 million/yr and they average 3 pts/gm and 1.5 rbds/gm. Player #143 cracks the 10 million/yr mark. They average 13 pts/gam and 3 rbds/gm. In other words, most of these players are bench scrubs and they are getting paid enormous salaries.
I get it. It's tough decisions. The league obviously makes money playing the extra games or they wouldn't do it. If players sitting out was hurting revenue they'd probably try to do something about it. Problem is there is too much money. They cater to the players because they are paid too much. The sport suffers in the end.
MJ, who at ages 32-34 played all 82 games three seasons in a row, en route to three titles didn't have a problem with playing every night. I'm sure he took it as a challenge. Even at 39 and playing for the Washington Bullets he played in all 82 games (started 67) in his last season. I personally find the NBA product, along with the NFL, in decline. Everyone touts offenses but really, nobody is allowed to aggressively defend, and if they do they get flagged. I think Tom Brady sums it up pretty well:
